The US should work with its partners to help Taiwan defend its freedom, US Senator Rick Scott told President Tsai Ing-wen (蔡英文) at a meeting yesterday.
The US and all other freedom-loving countries should work together to “make sure that Taiwan has the opportunity to decide their future, not have it decided by some foreigner,” said Scott, who is on a three-day visit to Taipei.
Scott, who took office as senator after his two terms as Florida governor ended in 2019, said the international community should continue working together to make sure Taiwan is well-positioned to defend its freedoms, referring to China’s growing influence in the Indo-Pacific region.
Photo: CNA
He said that as a member of the US Senate committees on armed services and commerce, he remains committed to the freedoms and security of Taiwan.
He said that he also looked forward to meeting with Taiwanese officials and business leaders to discuss ways to increase bilateral trade.
Tsai said there is a need for “democratic partners to deepen cooperation” in light of several challenges facing the world in the past few years, including, the expansion of authoritarianism, the COVID-19 pandemic and Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.
“Taiwan will continue to work closely with the US to jointly safeguard the stability and prosperity of the Indo-Pacific region,” she said.
Taipei has policies to grow bilateral trade, she said, citing ongoing talks with Washington about the US-Taiwan Initiative on 21st Century Trade and a Taiwanese trade delegation that visited the US last month.
PRO-TAIWAN BILLS
She thanked the Republican senator for twice in the past two years introducing a bill that would be crucial for the security of Taiwan, referring to the proposed Taiwan invasion prevention act.
Scott was the first US visitor to the Taiwan Representative Office in Lithuania and he exemplifies the partnership between the democracies, she added.
She hopes that Taiwan’s partnership with the US will become stronger and closer with Scott’s continued support, she said.
After the meeting, Scott told reporters he believes that “the world has changed” following Russian President Vladimir Putin’s actions in Ukraine.
“We all have to put ourselves in a position that we can make sure we defend the freedom we all believe in,” he said.
“I do think it would be helpful if Taiwan participated in RIMPAC and I hope that’s what happens in the future,” he said, referring to the Rim of the Pacific exercise, the world’s largest international maritime drills.
In the US-led format’s ongoing edition, 26 nations have since last month been participating in drills around Hawaii and southern California.
Additional reporting by Lee Hsin-fang and Reuters
LIMITS: While China increases military pressure on Taiwan and expands its use of cognitive warfare, it is unwilling to target tech supply chains, the report said US and Taiwan military officials have warned that the Chinese People’s Liberation Army (PLA) could implement a blockade within “a matter of hours” and need only “minimal conversion time” prior to an attack on Taiwan, a report released on Tuesday by the US Senate’s China Economic and Security Review Commission said. “While there is no indication that China is planning an imminent attack, the United States and its allies and partners can no longer assume that a Taiwan contingency is a distant possibility for which they would have ample time to prepare,” it said. The commission made the comments in its annual
DETERMINATION: Beijing’s actions toward Tokyo have drawn international attention, but would likely bolster regional coordination and defense networks, the report said Japanese Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi’s administration is likely to prioritize security reforms and deterrence in the face of recent “hybrid” threats from China, the National Security Bureau (NSB) said. The bureau made the assessment in a written report to the Legislative Yuan ahead of an oral report and questions-and-answers session at the legislature’s Foreign Affairs and National Defense Committee tomorrow. The key points of Japan’s security reforms would be to reinforce security cooperation with the US, including enhancing defense deployment in the first island chain, pushing forward the integrated command and operations of the Japan Self-Defense Forces and US Forces Japan, as
IN THE NATIONAL INTEREST: Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs Francois Wu said the strengthening of military facilities would help to maintain security in the Taiwan Strait Japanese Minister of Defense Shinjiro Koizumi, visiting a military base close to Taiwan, said plans to deploy missiles to the post would move forward as tensions smolder between Tokyo and Beijing. “The deployment can help lower the chance of an armed attack on our country,” Koizumi told reporters on Sunday as he wrapped up his first trip to the base on the southern Japanese island of Yonaguni. “The view that it will heighten regional tensions is not accurate.” Former Japanese minister of defense Gen Nakatani in January said that Tokyo wanted to base Type 03 Chu-SAM missiles on Yonaguni, but little progress
NO CHANGES: A Japanese spokesperson said that Tokyo remains consistent and open for dialogue, while Beijing has canceled diplomatic engagements A Japanese official blasted China’s claims that Japanese Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi has altered Japan’s position on a Taiwan crisis as “entirely baseless,” calling for more dialogue to stop ties between Asia’s top economies from spiraling. China vowed to take resolute self-defense against Japan if it “dared to intervene militarily in the Taiwan Strait” in a letter delivered Friday to the UN. “I’m aware of this letter,” said Maki Kobayashi, a senior Japanese government spokeswoman. “The claim our country has altered its position is entirely baseless,” she said on the sidelines of the G20 summit in Johannesburg on Saturday. The Chinese Ministry
RSS